State accused of withholding documents in Texas redistricting case

Court records show the state in the past few days began disclosing more than 7,000 pages, but stopped short of turning everything over. Many of the documents pertain to communications of the chairman of the 2013 redistricting committee, Rep. Drew Darby, R-San Angelo, with other people involved in the redistricting. Darby is shown in this 2015 photo. less

Court records show the state in the past few days began disclosing more than 7,000 pages, but stopped short of turning everything over. Many of the documents pertain to communications of the chairman of the ... more

Photo: Midland Reporter-Telegram File Photo

Photo: Midland Reporter-Telegram File Photo

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Court records show the state in the past few days began disclosing more than 7,000 pages, but stopped short of turning everything over. Many of the documents pertain to communications of the chairman of the 2013 redistricting committee, Rep. Drew Darby, R-San Angelo, with other people involved in the redistricting. Darby is shown in this 2015 photo. less

Court records show the state in the past few days began disclosing more than 7,000 pages, but stopped short of turning everything over. Many of the documents pertain to communications of the chairman of the ... more

Photo: Midland Reporter-Telegram File Photo

State accused of withholding documents in Texas redistricting case

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Plaintiffs challenging the 2013 redistricting maps on Tuesday accused the state of improperly delaying the release of thousands of pages of documents from them, including 113 documents that state lawyers refuse to hand over because they say they are privileged.

The spat may further delay a conclusion to the weeklong trial, which already was frustrating judges on Tuesday because of repetitive questions during the House maps portion of the trial. Testimony over congressional maps was heard late Tuesday.

Many of the documents in question pertain to communications of the chairman of the 2013 redistricting committee, Rep. Drew Darby, R-San Angelo, with other people involved in the redistricting, according to a lawyer for the plaintiffs.

The documents, under rules imposed by the three-judge panel, should have been disclosed years ago in the six-year old lawsuit, along with what’s known as a “privilege log,” but the apparent failure was recently discovered by Mark Gaber, one of the lawyers representing what’s known as the Quesada group of plaintiffs, according to court papers filed by Gaber.

After Gaber pressed for the documents last week, state lawyers over the weekend released more than 7,000 pages, but stopped short of turning over everything. Gaber filed an emergency motion to compel the state to turn over the 113 pages it says are protected by attorney-client privilege.

“They’ve sort of strung it out throughout the weekend,” said José Garza, a lawyer representing another group of plaintiffs, the Mexican American Legislative Caucus. “We just got another drop this morning. It was documents that had been requested two years ago. ... There was a requirement to produce certain documents or submit a privilege log. They never did that with Chairman Darby.”

The plaintiffs haven’t reviewed all of the documents that were allegedly turned over late.

“There may not be anything significant, or there can be some bombshells in there like we found back in 2011,” said Garza, referring to emails showing Republicans discussing how to eliminate districts or alter them in manners that were detrimental to minority voters and minority candidates.

One of the state’s lawyers, Angela Colmenero, defended the decision not to turn over the 113 documents. The judges — Judges Orlando Garcia and Xavier Rodriguez, both of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, and Judge Jerry E. Smith of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals —— ordered the state to file a response by late Tuesday, and set a hearing for Wednesday morning to take up the dispute, before trial testimony continues.

The Express-News on Tuesday left a message seeking comment for Darby, but he did not respond.

Meanwhile, the plaintiffs, which include civil rights groups, continued to argue that the 2013 maps the state adopted dilute the minority vote and discriminate, in violation of federal law.

Some of Tuesday’s testimony focused on voting patterns in Dallas, Bell and Fort Bend counties, and problems seen by the NAACP in House districts under the 2013 maps.

One plaintiff’s witness, state Rep. Eric Johnson, D-Dallas, who represents District 100, testified that there wasn’t much discussion during the special session in 2013 meant to fix the 2011 maps, which the three-judge panel invalidated in a pair of rulings this spring.

Johnson said the 2013 special session seemed to have “no process” — no input from people with knowledge nor input from stakeholders like those who might be affected. During that session, the Legislature took temporary maps the court panel ordered a year earlier, and made them permanent.

Johnson said he offered a map that would have added a district where a Latino might be elected for Congress in North Texas, but there was no interest in his proposal, and it seemed the maps were already “a foregone conclusion.”

Some witnesses for the plaintiffs testified that blacks, Latinos and Asian-Americans coalesce in voting for minority candidates. But witnesses for the state say that isn’t always true.

In Fort Bend County near Houston, where Asian-Americans make up about 20 percent of the population, there has been division — with Chinese Americans backing non-minority candidates, according to Jacey Jetton, formerly the Asian-American engagement director for the Republican Party there.